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OUTDOOR ODYSSEY: Get ready to ski with movie showing

Chris Davenport skis to the ocean while filming in Antarctica in this shot from the movie “Choose Your Adventure – A Ski Odyssey,” which is showing Saturday evening at Summit Canyon Mountaineering in Grand Junction.

It’s not until Mother Nature dumps the first big storm of the year that skiers and riders really get excited about the coming season.

That collective blood pressure leaped last weekend as the state’s mountains got pummeled, with some ski resorts reporting 18 inches and more of new powder.

Keep the blood-pressure meds handy, because you’re going to get another jump Saturday when Powderwhore Productions brings to town its 2012 “Choose Your Adventure — A Ski Odyssey” film tour.

The movie shows at 7 p.m. Saturday at Summit Canyon Mountaineering. Tickets are $10 at the door, and beer will be provided by Big Sky Brewery of Missoula, Mont.

As filmmaker Jonah Howell says, “You really never know what’s coming next in this film.

“We’re exploring an abandoned mining town in the Arctic, dropping cliffs with Hugo Harrison in British Columbia, plunging into the Antarctic Ocean in Speedos, blasting through deep power, catching up with some crusty locals in the Wasatch and more.”

Wait. Last year is memorable more for its terrible snow conditions, right?

“Last season was more like a nightmare than a dream,” said Noah Howell, Jason’s brother and one of the movie’s on-snow performers. “We were on and off again with the idea of making a film almost on a daily basis due to the lack of snow and injuries. Challenges often push one to get creative, and that’s what we were forced to do.

“The Choose Your Adventure theme seemed like a good way to tie together the variety of characters, locations and athletes.”

The movie includes shots of face-shots at such places as Cerro Castillo, Chile; La Grave, France; the Antarctic Peninsula; Svalbard, Norway; British Columbia and Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

There’s no lack of talented athletes eager to push their limits, as you’ll see in the movie.

“Our approach is to seek out motivated individuals doing their own thing in the mountains,” Noah Howell said. “Instead of us putting together trips and inviting athletes, we try to tag along and capture the action without getting in the way. And there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of folks getting out to play.”

There are some familiar faces (Aspen’s Chris Davenport and Utah’s Drew Stoecklein, among others) and several new ones that are sure to be stars.